Paris 19th district

Despite its rather bad reputation in Paris, the 19th district
hosts several of the most pleasant parks in Paris, and is one of the
most lively districts. Here is the map (read the hard-links to understand the abbreviations):

Everything in italics is outside the district. The 19th
district is the 4th most populated district in Paris with 172,730
inhabitants in 1990. It's also the 4th largest district (6.73
km2).

From Belleville to the 19th district

In 1860, Haussman, the man who made Paris what it is now,
annexed several villages and towns and created the outside districts
of Paris out of them (see the 20 districts of Paris). Among them
were La Villette and Belleville. Belleville was not a small
village: it was the 13th town in France. Because Haussman did not
trust these people, he decided to break Belleville into two districts
in order to make them lose their sense of unity and independence : the
northern half became a part of the 19th district, while the southern
half joined the 20th district. That was charasteristic of Haussman's
state of mind: when he drew large boulevards everywhere in Paris, his intent was to facilitate the traffic, but also to provide large ways for the army
in case of a uprising.

People of Belleville

Nowadays, Belleville is the most cosmopolitan area in Paris. And
therefore it's one of the most interesting: only here you can find
dozens of Chinese restaurants as well as dozens of Arab groceries
open late at night. Most shops are open on Sundays, while the
"European" areas in Paris are close on the same day. And the streets
are very lively. A few days ago, a group of Falun Gong were
meditating in the streets to protest against the Chinese
government. Twenty meters away, a group of Christian preachers, one
of them African and the others Chinese, were telling the people that
God loved them, before letting a group of young girls perform a
Chinese dance. I was struck with amazement; in my culture, religion is
usually a very serious matter, and no European Christian
would associate it with beauty and youth.

However, being cosmopolitan does not mean that every culture is
mixed. Quite the contrary. Some streets are Chinese, others are Arab,
and the limits are neat.

Rue de Belleville, which marks the limit between the 19th and the
20th district, goes up a hill towards Place des
Fêtes, probably the ugliest square in Paris. It has no recognizable
shape: buildings are planted here and there at random.

Much more pleasant is the old-fashioned Place de Rhin et Danube
and its neighborhood, surrounded with very short streets and their
tiny houses. Near Place de Rhin et Danube, inside a large curve of the
Paris ring road, have a look at the park of Butte du Chapeau
Rouge. It looks bigger than it is really, owing to an intelligent
organization of space and bits of architecture in the same 1920 style
as the buildings that surround the garden.

Buttes-Chaumont

Coming back inside Paris, the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is a
must-see place in Paris. The parks and gardens are one of the most
interesting features of Paris, because they are so rare. This one is
the most surprising of all: its valleys and waterfalls, and the giddy
height of a mountain in the middle of a lake would make you think you
are somewhere lost in the Alps if you couldn't see the buildings that
surround the park and, beyong them, the Eiffel Tower and the
Sacré-Coeur: indeed, you are in one of the highest spots in Paris. The
park is definitely worth a long walk on a Saturday afternoon or, even
better, at nightfall. And no, the mountain in the middle of the lake
is not natural: it was built in the 19th century.

South-west of the park, high buildings hide a hard-to-find hill:
Butte Bergeyre. Apart from the stairs, only one street leads to
it, and it winds steeply up to the summit. From there, you have a
large view on Paris, including a small vineyard at your feet. The
houses have one of the best situated locations in Paris, and probably
the calmest. Nobody will bother you up there.

La Villette

Going north, you will leave Belleville for La Villette. Canal de l'Ourcq crosses the district. It starts from Place de
Stalingrad, which has a very bad reputation as far as safety is
concerned. However, the banks of the canal make a pleasant walk. Their
name: "Quai de Seine" and "Quai de la Loire" should not confuse you:
you are not on the Seine, but on a tributary of it. Notice the cinema
on the "Quai de Seine".

Finally, you may have a look at rue des Flandres for its modern
buildings, some of which are the highest apartment towers in
Paris. See in particular, between rue Riquet and rue Mathis, a group
of buildings which received the nickname of "Les Orgues" (Organs)
because of their shape.